Gifts with conscience...

Around this time of year I start banging my head against the wall trying to come up with gift ideas for some of the trickier people on my list. I end up trolling the web for ideas in all directions... so for today's installment, here are some ideas for gifts with conscience:

The World Wildlife Fund offers adoption kits, most of which come with a small cuddly version of what you are adopting -- sea turtle, panda bear, asian elephant or polar bear -- plus information about the fight, and a tax write-off for the gift-purchaser.

For the coffee and tea lovers on your list, Certified Fair Trade is the way to go; buy some beans from Bean North Coffee Roasters (100% Fair Trade; Whitehorse YT), Salt Spring Coffee (Selected roasts available Fair Trade; Salt Spring Island, BC) or Pura Vida Coffee (100% Fair Trade; Seattle, WA). Buy Tea through Bridgehead (100% Fair Trade --they do coffee, too; Ottawa, ON) or Just Us Coffee Roasters (100% Fair Trade tea and coffee; Wolfville, NS) .

Know someone with a sweet tooth? Chocolate can also be purchased as Certified Fair Trade.

For readers, consider supporting small presses, local authors, zines, or alternative press magazines like Utne.

There's lots more out there, too... I could spend all day yapping. Instead, I'll leave you to check out the Green Pages at Co-Op America, Greenmatters, or the Utne Web Store.